The present invention relates to a display plate for a printed circuit board.
Usually, a printed circuit board or card is loaded with various kinds of circuit elements on a surface of its base, or substrate, and provided at a first end or rear end of the base with connection members or male connectors adapted for connection with connection members or female connectors of communication equipment. At a second end or front end as opposed by the first end, the board is equipped with a plate member which basically serves as a handle for easily handling the board and as a stiffener for preventing deformation of the board, particularly bending. To implement such dual functions, the plate member is fixed to the front end of the base by screws, rivets and other individual fasteners. Further, the plate member functions as display means for providing visible indications of particular operating conditions of a circuit which is loaded on the board. An example of a printed circuit board with such display means is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,558. However, in the disclosed display means, or display unit 10 as shown in FIG. 1 of the patent, assembly work is difficult because the display means is fixed to the front end of a printed circuit board by means of a plurality of rivets. In addition, different kinds of such display means have to be prepared to cope with differences in the number of light-emitting elements, informations to be displayed, and the like, inviting a considerable decrease in productivity.